Friday Five: the week's top news

We round-up some of the top hospitality stories you might have missed this week

Hedge fund CarVal, which shared a multibillion-pound bounty after making bets on the collapsed Wall Street investment bank Lehman Brothers, is among those reportedly circling PizzaExpress​​. Other investors to have bought into the debt-laden dining chain’s heavily discounted corporate bonds include Cyrus Capital, and distressed debt specialist HIG Bayside.

Jollibee is pushing forward with its regional expansion plans with the opening of a second UK site in Liverpool​​. Bee World UK Ltd, part of the Jollibee Foods Corporation, has submitted a planning application to open a quick service restaurant on Whitechapel in the city centre that will be the “flagship branch in the North of England”.

YO! is to trial an express format restaurant designed for customers on the go​​. The Japanese food business is to remove the conveyor belt from its Manchester Piccadilly station site, and convert it to an eponymous grab and go concept early next month. YO! CEO Richard Hodgson told BigHospitality​ there was potential for the group to become a “Japanese version of Leon”.